Paris to Rome

Same as late July.

Easyjet or Vueling out of Orly.

You have factor in total time. While flying only takes a couple of hours for Ryan air you have a shuttle for an hour plus, a couple more hours for checking in, etc., two hours flying, and another hour getting into Rome - that is 6, 7 hours total. The other airlines would knock an hour or so off but still couple of hours on each side of your flying time. I personally would rather spend eights hours on train than five to seven hours messing with an airline and related transportation.

Pepita,

The travel time by train from Paris to Rome appears to range from ~10H:50M to 19H:06M, with at least one change. One of the easiest trips will be a departure from Gare de Lyon at 07:49, arriving Roma Tiburtina at 18:39 (one change in Milan) so basically a full travel day.

Travel by air will be a considerably quicker trip and a more efficient use of your travel time. I would not suggest using RyanAir, given the extra transportation time to Beauvais. As Ed mentioned, using EasyJet or Vueling out of Paris / ORY would be a better solution. Budget airlines tend to operate on a sliding scale with prices increasing as the flight fills, and unfortunately at this late date the prices have already increased somewhat beyond the "budget" level for both EasyJet and Vueling.

From central Paris, it's very easy to reach Orly via the RER and OrlyVal train, or by Bus. Upon arrival at Rome / FCO, it's easy to get from the airport to Roma Termini using the Leonardo Express (€14 PP, 35 minutes, DON'T forget to validate your ticket prior to boarding the train).

I haven't checked the pricing for travel by train but it's possible the train fare would be about the same as by air. If that's the case, your choice is travel by train (~11 hours) or by air (~6 hours).

Good luck!

You are all terrific!
Thanks.
Going on Vuellig.

Pepita,

It sounds like your plans are falling into place. The Vueling prices are not exactly "budget" but given the short time until the flight, book soon before they increase any more. NOTE that some of their flights on that route have a short layover in Barcelona, so be sure to book one of their direct flights.

Be sure to read their "Terms & Conditions" carefully, especially related to luggage weights, etc. If your checked luggage will be more than their allowable weight, it's often cheaper to pay for the next weight tier at the time of booking, rather than at the gate. A summary of their terms for carry-on are.....

"Each Passenger may only carry one item of hand luggage of up to 10 kg and no larger than 55x40x20 cm, with the exception of the Excellence fare which allows for one item of hand luggage of up to 14 kg. In addition, the Passenger may carry one extra item free of charge and which must be significantly smaller than 55x40x20 cm, such as a small briefcase, a handbag or camera."

I took one Vueling flight last year from Sevilla to Paris and had no problems at all. It was a pleasant flight.

With a train schedule of 11,12 hours, I would vote for air. When I made my comments I was relying on Dick's representation of 8 hours. Wrong. Should have looked it up myself. When train travel is in the range to six to eight hours, we do consider flying. Anything over ten and we will fly.

I'm in a similar dilemma. My friend and I are backpacking through Europe from July 25-August 10.
We are leaving Paris on the July 31st and I am still trying to decide if we should fly or take the night train.

If we flew on the 31st, we would have to leave Paris early and still pay for a hostel on the night of the 31st in Rome.

But if we took the night train on the 31st, we would have pretty much a good chunk of the day in paris on the 31st (until about 5 or 6pm) and wouldn't have to pay for a hostel that night, so we may be saving a little money, and still arrive in Rome the next morning and have the entire day to explore.

Am I correct in analyze this?

Yes you are right.

We decided to fly. It was the best on cost/time for us even though I do prefer trains. Thank you for all of the suggestions.